


sweet coffee, bitter smiles

by sashimiontoast



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Barista Jaemin, Character Study, Coffee Shop, Crush, Daydreaming, Fluff, Gen, Short, Thinking, soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-29
Updated: 2019-01-29
Packaged: 2019-10-18 20:11:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 563
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17587613
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sashimiontoast/pseuds/sashimiontoast
Summary: His smile was something not everyone could master.It reminded me of honey and melon and everything sweet. Looking at it made you feel at home, right next to the fireplace, the windows shut, a snowstorm ravaging outside. Only you are inside, blanketed with the warmth, a cup of hot coffee in your hands.





	sweet coffee, bitter smiles

He was a newbie. It was obvious, by the way the tray shook in his hands, and how he scratched his neck at the counter in confusion whenever something went wrong. Yet, throughout all the mishaps, like spilling someone’s coffee or burning someone’s food, he smiled.

His smile was something not everyone could master. It reminded me of honey and melon and everything sweet. Looking at it made you feel at home, right next to the fireplace, the windows shut, a snowstorm ravaging outside. Only you are inside, blanketed with the warmth, a cup of hot coffee in your hands.

 

Another thing. The way he made my coffee just right every time. Even if he was a new employee, he somehow managed to make my 3 sugars, and 1 espresso shot coffee taste sweeter than it should, but in a rather pleasant way. Maybe it was because of the attempted heart  or smily face swirled in the milk. Maybe it was because of the way his smile seemed to grow each time he would place the mug on my table. Maybe it was because of his kind words, simple things, like _“how are you?”_ and _“isn’t the weather beautiful today?”_  .

 

He wasn’t too much older than me. He probably went to college. You could tell he was up at night, studying for exams , by the darkening bags under his eyes. Sometimes he would run in, late, panting apologises to his boss, carrying a large backpack. He was a busy boy.

 

It wasn’t like I was stalking him. 

 

It was merely coincidence that he worked here. And besides, this was one of the best cafes in town…I wasn’t going anywhere.

 

 

I watch him from the other side of the room. He looks slightly damp, like the usual brightness he radiated had been tampered with. I wonder what it could be to make him lose that familiar spark in his eyes.  I also wonder when my heart will stop having a fit every time I see him. 

 

When he comes over to me, the cup of coffee in his hands, I smile at him. He returns it, but it is smaller than usual. There’s no teeth. It’s strained.

 

My eyes catch his hands, which are scratched and bruised. I wonder.

 

“Are you okay?” I ask. 

 

He nods, wearily. “I will be fine.”

 

I smile at him, saddened. “It’s okay not to be happy all the time. It’s okay to not always smile. You’re human too.”

 

He blinks at this.

 

“You’re allowed to cry. You’re allowed to let things out once in a while, Jaemin.”

 

He smiles at this. “You’ve never called me by my name.”

 

I say nothing. I only knew his name, because of the badge pinned on his apron. 

 

I never got the chance to use it. I never knew how to talk to him, about something other than the clouds outside, or how sweet the coffee was. I wanted to talk more, about important things.

 

He nods at me, and winks, as if he had just told me a secret that was only to be kept between us. He drifts off.

 

I sigh, resting my head in my hands, watching him go. A smile was pasted on his face again.

 

It seemed I was the only one who knew when he was faking it. _His real smile was far more pretty..._


End file.
